Romance is Boring
by theonethatdies
Summary: Remus watches in jealousy as Sirius gets everything. One night changes all that. SLASH Remus/Sirius. AU. Rating may be changed later.
1. In Medias Res

Romance is Boring

A Harry Potter fanfiction by theonethatdies

**AN: So! I decided to branch out from my usual writing and try a new series to test my skillz on. I'm going to try to keep the level of writing consistent this time, as opposed to having characters do dumb things for no apparent reason. I hope you enjoy it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Harry Potter. That would be JK Rowling.**

**Also, this is SLASH. AU slash, but slash nonetheless. If you don't like it, leave. Right now.**

Chapter 1: In Medias Res

* * *

It seemed like a normal day, just like any other. Remus Lupin woke up at seven o'clock, trudged into the shower, brushed his teeth, skipped breakfast and barely caught the bus. The sky was uniformly overcast, threatening to drop a downpour of rain at any moment. Remus hurriedly did his homework on the way to school, scribbling in answers as his mind worked furiously to ignore the din from both the vehicle and the other students. It seemed like a normal day, just like any other. But it wouldn't be.

* * *

Across the cafeteria from Remus sat Sirius Black. Sirius and his friends James Potter and Peter Pettigrew were the most popular boys in school. That fact, moreso than his considerable charm and roguish good looks, was the main reason why Sirius had at least a dozen girls swarming around him at all times.

Remus gazed over at Sirius with a mix of awe and loathing. "It isn't even like he's that good-looking. And he's such a douchebag. All those girls just want him because he's popular. They're social-climbing sluts."

Remus's best friend, Lily, nodded her head in agreement but didn't say anything. This conversation was such well-traveled territory that she hardly even needed to say anything anymore. First came the disgusted looks, then came the jealous gossip, then came her favorite part - "What if we put arsenic in his food?" - the death threats.

Lily smiled. "Or we could pour sugar in his gas tank?"

"Put a rabid squirrel in his backpack?"

"Rig his bedroom door with a bucket full of sulfuric acid?"

"Put his car a little too close to the edge of a cliff?"

"I think a live shark in his bathtub would be an excellent solution," said a silky, cold voice behind Remus.

"Oh, hello Severus," Remus said without turning around. Severus Snape wasn't exactly Remus's _friend_, per se, but he was Lily's, and so he had still earned his spot at their lunch table.

"Hey, Sev, are you going to the concert tonight?" Lily asked as Remus returned his attention to the hated Sirius.

"No, I have to finish up McGonagall's paper, remember? That old hag."

Remus turned his head back to Lily. "What concert?" One of the many things that Remus and Lily had bonded over was music; when most kids were listening to the hated Britney Spears, they were fawning over _Something About Airplanes_.

"Well, there's this band called Los Campesinos, and-…"

"Los Camp is playing? Why didn't you tell me sooner? And _where_?"

"At The Cavern. You like them?"

"Well, how could I not?"

And, as the discussion here veers into debate about the musical merits of songs about dancing vs. songs about hopelessness, we shall close the curtain on this scene.

* * *

Sirius Black was easily the big man on campus. With straight-A's, the coveted quarterback position, and a steady girlfriend in the form of the cheerleading captain, Bellatrix, he was the guy that everyone aspired to be. And, as such, he was an angsty mess. However, despite the inherently cliché nature of his situation (he had a journal full of badly-attempted teenage prose, for instance), he did have a good reason for his angst; he was hiding he fact that he was secretly gay.

So there he sat in his room, pretending to be enjoying making out with Bellatrix, the head cheerleader. She was certainly into it; she was moaning and groaning and generally making a racket far too enthusiastic for such an unsatisfying endeavor.

Suddenly, she pulled away. With her lips slightly parted and her thighs much more so, Sirius was hardly surprised by the question that followed: "Siri, wanna go all the way?"

Still, despite the fact that he saw it coming from a mile away, Sirius still froze at those words. Quickly, he made up a lie. "Um, sorry, Bella honey, but I don't have any condoms, and…"

"So? Unless you've been cheating on me, there isn't any danger." Bellatrix then had a sudden realization, and gasped, "Have you been sleeping around?"

"No, of course not, you know I would never-…"

"You lying ass, I knew it! It's that slut Narcissa, isn't it? God, I can't BELIEVE you would do this to me!" Bellatrix's already high voice shot up a couple octaves further, and Sirius swore he heard his bedroom windows crack. "I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME."

And with that, Bellatrix fled the scene. Sirius, still unsure of what had occurred, sighed and reached into his pocket, tearing up one of the two tickets for the night's concert. Originally, he had planned to take his girlfriend (and secretly hoped that the music would drown out her voice), but for the time being, it seemed he would be bopping to "You! Me! Dancing!" all alone.

* * *

"Tonight we're gonna smash this place up, and then we're gonna deck it out in fairy lights till WE ARE CONTENT!" shouted Remus and Lily along with the song. Windows down, music blasting, going to a killer concert… Remus was truly content.

He couldn't place it, but he had a good feeling about tonight.

They pulled up to the Cavern, "My Year in Lists" bursting from the speakers. The Cavern was placed on what was once the lot of an old, ornate mansion; when the current owners bought the property, they kept the spacious basement and first floor intact. Downstairs was the venue's main stage, while the first floor was used as the box office/waiting area. The juxtaposition of the elaborate décor upstairs with the Spartan space downstairs (not to mention the classic rock posters next to shelves of Mozart and Beethoven) made it one of Remus's favorite concert venues.

As they walked towards the open double doors, Remus noticed a strangely familiar silver sedan pull up. In fact, he thought he caught a glimpse of Sirius Black driving. He shrugged it off. _Sirius wouldn't come here, he'd have to mingle with us commoners_, Remus told himself.

* * *

As the band opened their set, Remus forgot all about Sirius, and high school, and pretty much anything other than his obsessive need to shout along to all the songs until he couldn't shout anymore.

He was so focused, in fact, that he didn't notice that he kept stomping on someone else's feet… That is, until that someone started yelling at _him_. "Hey, watch it!" Remus heard behind him as he landed, yet again, on the stranger's toes. He turned around to face a massive-looking man who had definitely had too many beers.

"Um, sorry…" Remus muttered, then turned back around.

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it, wise guy," growled the other man. He flexed his considerable and probably steroid-fueled muscles impressively.

"Well, what then?" Remus asked, getting annoyed.

"How about a nice knuckle sandwich?" He reared back, getting ready for the hit, and…

"Hold it, what's going on?"

Remus opened his eyes and saw none other than Sirius Black, holding back Mr. Terminator's fist. His mouth dropped open.

The other man sized up Sirius and decided that it wasn't in his best interest to hit someone that might fight back, so he simply muttered, "Nothing," and walked away.

Sirius turned to look at the still-stunned Remus. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Remus shook off his surprise. "Yeah, fine," he said.

Sirius began to walk away. Remus, feeling awkward, worked up the courage and finally said, "Thank you."

Sirius turned back around. "It was nothing," he said, smiling. For the first time, Remus noticed how good-looking he actually was. Then, Sirius walked away through the crowd, leaving Remus to gape after him.

* * *

It was after the concert when it happened. Remus went outside to meet up with Lily but couldn't find her, but thought nothing of it. He pulled out his phone to text her, but got no reply. It was then that he heard a whimpering from the alley next to the building. He tentatively crept over and saw the unimaginable.

His first impression was red. There was red everywhere; on the metal trash cans next to her, on the gravel under her, on her skirt, on her blouse, on her hands. Lily was lying on the ground, covered in blood, a rip in her shirt on the left side. "R-Remus… Help…" she panted, then fell unconscious. Remus screamed.

Suddenly, Sirius was there. He took one look at Lily, eyes closed on the ground, and Remus, face white as a sheet, and realized what had happened. "We've got to get her to a hospital!" he yelled as he ran to Lily and picked her up.

The next few hours passed in a terrifying blur. First, they were driving to the hospital, Remus holding Lily in the backseat… Then running in, the nurses taking her away as quickly as they could while Remus watched, helplessly… Then in the waiting room, sitting and hoping, wishing, praying… And Sirius, always right next to him, always with words of hope and kindness.

It was three in the morning when a nurse came in to see them. She motioned wordlessly for them to follow her and they moved in silence to room 104. She pulled back the curtain to reveal a pale but definitely breathing Lily.

Remus was overwhelmed. He broke into tears of relief and hugged her, as she smiled weakly back at him.

Sirius stood by the doorway awkwardly, not sure what to do. But then Remus and Lily turned to him, their eyes shining with gratitude. He walked over hugged them both. They understood.

* * *

The next day at school was awkward. Remus hadn't noticed before just how many times he saw Sirius during the school day. And now he did.

As the other teen passed him by again, Remus raised his count to 32 times. It wasn't even lunch, and he'd already had to deal with 32 awkward hallway encounters. After all, what do you say to someone that you used to hate that saved your friend's life? "Thanks for being an awesome person, sorry that I've resented you for four years"?

The truth was that Remus, despite his best efforts, could not bring himself to go back to his normal mode of loathing. Had Sirius not been there, Lily would likely have died, according to the doctors. All the details came out after their tearful reunion: Lily had gone out to get some air during a break in the band's set. A man grabbed her, dragged her into the alleyway, stabbed her, and stole her money and car keys. The wound wasn't so deep as to be immediately dangerous (and, luckily, no vital organs were damaged), but if Sirius hadn't gotten her to the hospital when he did, she probably would have bled out in the alley.

So now Remus was forced to be grateful to someone he was used to despising. Where he once would have glared, he now awkwardly waved, and occasionally even smiled. It was an odd feeling, not hating Sirius Black. But, Remus had to admit, it wasn't entirely unpleasant. In fact, he thought he could very easily get used to the idea.

**

* * *

Well, that's the first chapter done. I hope you guys enjoyed it! And see that "review" button up there? It never hurts to use it. **


	2. There Are Listed Buildings

Chapter 2: There Are Listed Buildings

**AN: Sorry this took so long to get up, my plot bunnies took a vacation for a while. But here it is! I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I figured I'd let you guys make the call on that. Hope you enjoy it! **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, and despite this fanfic's tenuous connection to the world that JK Rowling created, I still don't own any of this.**

**ALSO: if you don't like implied slash, AU, or supernatural elements in your AU, leave right now.**

**

* * *

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It had been a week or so since Sirius had saved Lily's life and Remus's sanity. Lily, whose parents were off on a business trip when she was attacked, had rushed home as soon as they heard and were currently keeping watch over her at their house; she hadn't been to school since. In her absence, Remus had taken to eating lunch in his 4th-period classroom; without the glue that was Lily, he and Severus did nothing but sit awkwardly and occasionally glance at each other, and Remus wasn't particularly fond of most of his fellow students.

Sirius, on the other hand, fell easily back into his normal schedule. The story of him saving Lily's life hadn't really gotten out yet, for which he was grateful; Bellatrix was still pissed off at him for his imagined tryst with Narcissa, a somewhat-pretty senior girl who dressed like a whore and was (before Bellatrix and Sirius's argument) her best friend, and Sirius already had his hands full with that. He knew that she would calm down. Dating Bellatrix was a lot like dating a very temperamental cat, what with the constant switches between affection and attacking and the danger of getting clawed.

More problematic, however, was his newfound relationship with Remus. Both found that they couldn't very well ignore each other after the incident on the night of the concert. Sirius found himself asking questions as to Lily's well-being every so often, and occasionally trading small talk with Remus during their classes together. Both of them could feel the beginnings of something resembling friendship as the week progressed, but it wasn't until that Friday, 11 days after the concert that set everything in motion, that the events that would set their fate in motion really began.

It was their last class of the day. Mr. Binns, their History teacher, decided to spring a last-minute project on his unsuspecting students minutes after they took a very major test, perhaps to make up for the fact that he had accidentally projected the answer key onto the board without realizing it. He went around the room to begin assigning partners, and as luck would have it, Sirius had dropped a pencil that had rolled under Remus's desk. When Remus walked to Sirius's desk to return it, Mr. Binns passed by and designated them as partners. It was a mark of how far their relationship had progressed that Remus couldn't feel much besides apathy towards this development, and Sirius was even slightly happy.

They decided to go to Sirius's the next day to begin working on their project; this gave Remus a whole evening to be inexplicably nervous about going to Sirius Black's home. He wondered what such a residence would look like. _It's probably decked out like a palace; twenty stories, marble columns, maybe a servant or two, definitely a pool, and most likely full of tacky displays of wealth and superiority. _Remus told himself that, were they not assigned a project together, he would never be this curious as to what Sirius's house looked like.

Alas, however, he could not be so sure.

* * *

The rather uneventful night passed in a blur, and soon Remus found himself waiting patiently by his front door for Sirius to pick him up (Remus didn't have a driver's license, or even a permit; he found driving to be somewhat terrifying). He waited and waited for what seemed like hours until, finally, he heard the familiar honk of a car horn outside.

He glanced out the window and saw the silver sedan that he had also glimpsed at the concert; however, either his glance had been even less attentive than he'd thought or his imagination had been severely overactive, because while he had originally thought it was a brand-new, fancy Mercedes, it was actually an old Honda. An obviously well cared-for old Honda, to be sure (its silver paint was shining in the sunlight, and it looked like it had never seen the road at all), but an old Honda nonetheless.

Remus headed out and into the car, heart hammering for no conceivable reason. He muttered a quick "Hi" to Sirius, who responded with a smile and a much more enthusiastic "Hey, how's it going?" The two made small talk for a few minutes before the conversation lapsed into a somewhat uncomfortable silence.

* * *

After ten minutes, they pulled into the driveway of a fairly modest, one-story home made of gray stone with tasteful wooden accents. There were flowers growing on either side of the stairs leading up to the wide porch out front, upon which sat two large flowerpots holding even more plants. The front lawn was decently sized and the grass was a healthy green. All in all it was a modern, attractive home that didn't fit Remus's idea of Sirius Black's house in the least.

Sirius hopped out of the car. Remus trailed behind him, wondering how on Earth he could have so misjudged Sirius. He had always assumed him to be a privileged rich kid; how else to explain the school-conquering popularity, the top-of-the-class grades, or the star football position besides money, and lots of it? And yet, Sirius drove an average car and lived in an average house in an average neighborhood; not signs of particular fortune. _You don't know what it's like on the inside yet_, Remus chided himself. _I bet it's gold-plated._

Yet, upon entering the house, Remus saw that there was no gold in sight; all he saw instead were signs of tasteful décor and a fondness for Ikea furnishings. His head was reeling. He had based most, if not all, of his impressions about Sirius Black on the assumption that his family was rich. He even had an elaborate backstory for the family's money thought up: _My dad was young and struggling to get into the culinary business. One day, a lightbulb went off in his head and he realized that was the market was missing was a delicious, frozen, ready-to-bake German breakfast pastry. So, after years of failed attempts, my father finally broke into the business and found himself a rich man… as the inventor of Toaster Strudel. That, Remus, is why we have a life-size, diamond-encrusted statue of the Toaster Strudel box in my living room_.

But there were no diamond pastry statues in this living room. Remus felt slightly sheepish as Sirius led him to his basement, where the two could work on their project without any significant interruption.

Sirius's basement was kind of bare-bones; there was tan carpeting, a leather couch, a wooden coffee table, and a small television. The walls were made of aging wood paneling; Remus could see that they had sustained some serious wear and tear. Other than that, there was very little of interest here, and as such, it was the perfect place to do schoolwork.

Sirius flopped down on the couch and signaled for Remus to join him; he did so, gingerly. There was a brief, awkward silence. Remus's mind raced as he tried to think up something to say, but Sirius beat him to it. "So, what do you think we should our project on?"

Remus slapped himself mentally. _Of course, we're here to work on the project! Why else would I be here?_ Remus thought for a moment. "Mr. Binns said it was supposed to be on local history, right?"

Upon Sirius's confirmation of this, he said, "Well, you know about the old insane asylum?"

"No, what old insane asylum?"

"You haven't been?" asked Remus. Sirius shook his head in response.

Remus sighed, then smiled. "There's this old Revolutionary War fort that they used as a sort of jail for POWs from the 1700s up until after the Civil War. Around 1920 or so, the government decided to convert it for use as an insane asylum. They abandoned it around 1970; they were going to sell it, but nobody wanted the land. More importantly, though, rumors started to get out that the place is haunted. I've been inside a couple of times, and it is really creepy. In any case, it's got tons of history behind it."

Remus settled back onto the couch, confidant his point had been made. Sirius smiled. "How far is it from here?"

* * *

The second ride in Sirius's car was a lot more jovial than the first. Remus told Sirius stories of the times he'd gone there with Lily and Severus to explore, while Sirius pretended to be terrified of the ghosts in the asylum.

They came to the asylum after about 20 minutes of driving. It was an old stone fort, fairly large and long, with towers on each end and a large wooden door out front. The back faced the ocean, and there was a wire fence running around the whole structure.

Sirius glanced at the fence and suddenly became wary. "Are you sure we're supposed to be here?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "I promise it's alright. They don't care if people come in here; the fence is more of a formality. They have way more important things to worry about than two kids exploring a building that nobody lives in."

Sirius looked unconvinced but agreed to go in regardless. They climbed up and over the fence and slid through a broken window close to ground level. After he dusted himself off, Sirius looked around. They were in an obviously long-unused bedroom. The bed was crisply made but dust-covered, and hadn't been slept on in quite some time. There was a wooden bedside table with a small lamp on top, and a dresser in the corner with its door hanging open; inside, however, it was empty.

"Come on," Remus whispered, and the two crept out of the room into a long hallway with seemingly similar rooms lining it to the left and right. Remus started moving right, and Sirius followed, until they reached a doorway with a sign that read "CAFETERIA" over it. Instead of going in, however, Remus went left, towards a metal staircase. Sirius followed him up until they reached the top, where Sirius realized the purpose behind this adventure.

Remus had led him into what must've been the administrative office of the asylum. There was a desk with an office chair behind it and an old microphone sitting on top; Sirius assumed that there was some sort of intercom system it was connected to. The wall next to the desk was made up of a series of television monitors, most of them broken, that were probably once used for security, while the wall opposite that was empty save for three small windows at the top. But what Remus led him to was the back wall, which was lined with old file cabinets. "These file cabinets hold all of the information on every inmate that was ever admitted here," he said gleefully. He opened up the first drawer on the cabinet over on the far left; there were eight cabinets in all. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

They had worked their way through about three drawers worth of files, looking for a good story to do their project on, when Sirius noticed that the light coming through the windows was dimming. "Looks like it's getting darker outside. Do you know what time it is?" Sirius asked.

Remus checked his phone. "Shit, it's getting late. We'd better go."

"Why?"

"Well, I don't want to be here after dark, do you?"

The question took Sirius by surprise. "I don't know, do I?"

"No. You don't. Weren't you listening earlier? The place is supposed to be haunted."

Sirius suddenly realized that Remus was getting scared, and smirked. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"Um, were you reading the files? Some of the inmates here were truly crazy, and they certainly weren't all that kind to them here. I don't think it's a stretch."

Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit the up the room, followed by a loud CRACK! Remus nearly jumped out of his skin. "Please, Sirius, let's just go. We can take some of the files with us, we have more than enough to do the project on, I really want to get out of here!"

His words finally got through to Sirius, who grabbed some files under the crook of his left arm, put his right around Remus's shoulder, and said, "Okay. If it scares you that much, we'll go."

* * *

The two moved slowly out of the administrative office and down the stairs. They found the door to the room that they had snuck into earlier and headed in; curiously, it was closed, even though they had left it open. Sirius didn't think anything of it.

Once they entered, though, they realized what they had gotten into.

On the bed, sleeping, was a man in a black-and-white striped uniform.

He was also transparent.

Sirius's breath caught, but he held back the urge to scream; Remus however, couldn't.

The man woke, saw them, and an expression of pure anger crossed his face. He opened his ghostly mouth and roared, in a voice louder than a bomb, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Remus shot out the door, and Sirius followed. Remus darted left down the hallway, away from the cafeteria and the office, past other doors that Sirius only hoped didn't have malicious ghosts inside them. Sirius could hear the man chasing after them, yelling wordlessly in his thundering voice; it echoed off the walls and rose to a terrifying screech.

It was all Sirius could do to hang onto the files as he ran for his life. The hall took a sharp bend at the end, and Remus flew around it ahead of him. Sirius skidded on the curve but somehow managed to stay upright as he tried to outrun the angry spirit behind him. He saw ahead the door to the asylum, and hoped that they would be able to get it open.

Remus got to it first, and began to unbar the heavy lock. Sirius caught up and helped, and the two managed to undo the bar. They began to push at the door, and it opened up just enough for them to slip through.

The ghost, however, was upon them.

He ran up to Sirius and Remus, who was halfway out the door, and they were convinced that it was the end-… but he ran right through them and the door and dissipated into mist, his roaring voice echoing out into the night air.

* * *

Remus slipped through the door and Sirius followed suit. They shut the door and stood for a moment, hearts pounding, until Remus broke down into tears, sliding down the doorway until he hit the ground.

Sirius bent over to him. "Hey, it's okay… We're alright, he's gone now." He dropped the files, wrapped his arms around Remus's crying form, picked him up, and carried him to the edge of the fence.

"You'll have to climb over now, okay?" Sirius said softly, and Remus nodded to show his understanding. Shakily, he clambered over the fence, and Sirius quickly shimmied over too. He put his arm around Remus's shoulders and steered him to the car.

* * *

They drove back in silence. It was about nine by the time that Sirius pulled up to Remus's house and shut off the engine. He wanted to say something to Remus, something to comfort him, but he couldn't think of anything.

Remus opened the door and stepped out of the car. He looked up at his house, his comforting, safe house. He remembered, however, that nobody was home; his mother was out with friends for the night and his father was on a business trip. The thought made fresh fear burn in his stomach. He had a sudden idea and turned back to the car. He opened the door and asked Sirius, sheepishly, "C-could you stay here and keep me company tonight?"

Sirius was slightly taken aback by the question, but he needed company too after the terrifying experience at the asylum, and Remus still looked badly shaken. He nodded and stepped out, and the two walked into Remus's house together.

They walked up the stairs into Remus's bedroom, where they climbed into Remus's bed, still clothed under the covers. Sirius put his arms around the scared Remus, and the last thing that went through both their heads was how warm and safe they felt.

* * *

Remus woke first with the sun streaming through his window and onto his face. He remembered the events of the night before and shivered a little. He then realized that he was still lying in Sirius's arms. He thought that the idea would disgust him, but in truth, it didn't; he felt comforted, even content, lying there.

He felt Sirius stir behind him, and slid delicately out of his arms, trying not to disturb his slumber. He crept downstairs and got out a pan, some cooking spray, milk, eggs, and pancake mix. He didn't know why, but he wanted to make Sirius breakfast; it seemed a good way to thank him.

Sirius woke in an unfamiliar room, with the smell of pancakes tickling his nose. He was utterly confused for a moment until the previous night's adventure came back to him. He felt some residual fear creep into his stomach, and then wondered where Remus had gone.

He followed the scent of the pancakes until he found himself in the kitchen of Remus's house, where he saw Remus making breakfast. "Morning," Remus greeted him, and for once, it didn't sound forced. Sirius was too surprised to respond.

He walked over to the stove and hopped up on the counter next to it. He sat for a while, just watching the other boy make pancakes. He noticed a lot of little things: how his shaggy brown hair fell over his face and shook freely as he moved, how his brow furrowed over his round dark eyes as he concentrated, how his smooth red lips pursed into lines.

Remus continued cooking, well aware of Sirius's intense gaze. He found he didn't mind the attention, and almost felt the compulsion to look back into the other's deep gray eyes… But he quickly fought that urge as the pancakes sizzled angrily in the pan.

Finally, Sirius broke the silence. "Why are you making pancakes anyway?"

Remus turned off the stove and hopped up on the counter next to Sirius. "I'm not entirely sure… I guess I just wanted to thank you. For staying."

Sirius blushed. "It was nothing."

"No, really. You could have just as easily just left me here alone. I'm not like you, I'm not… I'm not popular like you. I'm not a sports star; in fact, I hate sports. I'm smart, I guess, but I don't care much about school. I don't have girls swarming all over me, nobody aspires to be me. I'm almost as different from you as I can be. So you could have just left me alone last night, preserved the status quo. But you stayed and comforted someone you barely know anything about. And I'm really grateful."

Remus stared at the floor. He could feel Sirius's eyes on him. Sirius looked at him for a long time before responding. "You really think that I would leave you alone after we practically almost died together? I couldn't. I can't abandon anyone like that. I mean, yes, we hardly know each other. And yeah, we have a lot of superficial differences. But even if I hated you I wouldn't do that."

These last words caught Remus's attention. "You don't… You don't hate me?"

"No, why in the world would I? You haven't done anything to me. In fact, I've always kind of liked you. You're kind of… mysterious. Like a puzzle. You've always been someone I've wondered about but never really had to courage to talk to."

Remus felt horrible at these words. "I… wow. I just… I always assumed that you were this popular kid who had some kind of disdain for the rest of us, the ones who weren't you."

"What for?"

"I don't know. I mean, you're this big football star and you're smart and everyone loves you. I always figured that at some point it had gone to your head and you realized how great you were." Remus took a deep breath before continuing. "Sirius, you might think I'm terrible, but I've always kind of resented you, even… hated you. I know that we didn't know each other and maybe exchanged like two words before, but you always had everything and I… well, not as much. I tried to make myself believe I was better than you, but I think I was jealous of you. Hell, I still am." Remus looked away in shame. "You can start hating me if you want to, but now you have your wish. Now you know me."

"Remus."

He continued to avert his eyes.

"Remus, look at me."

He turned, reluctantly, back to Sirius and waited for a severe tongue-lashing, still avoiding eye contact.

"Thank you."

He looked up in surprise.

"I know that must've taken so much courage to say, so… thank you for saying it."

"You aren't angry? At all?"

"No. Like you said, now I know you. You just told me more about yourself in two minutes than some people have told me in two years." He placed his hand on Remus's shoulder. "Nobody has ever shown me that level of trust before. Nobody ever gives me credit for it. Everyone seems to think that I'm vindictive and shallow just because I'm popular. But you just showed me more respect than almost anyone else ever has."

Remus felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He smiled, a real, bright smile that made Sirius smile back.

"So… pancakes?"

* * *

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! Remember to review, review, review. The next chapter is where I plan to really get it into high gear, so look forward to that. Thanks for reading!**


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